Ice maker for a refrigerator

ABSTRACT

An automatic ice maker for a refrigerator includes an ice mold body, an ice stripper and an ice rake. The ice mold body has front, back, and end sides, a top peripheral rim and a plurality of ice chambers. Each ice chamber has a top opening having a frontal portion adjacent the front side and a back portion adjacent the back side. The ice stripper is sealingly disposed on the top peripheral rim, has a unitary one-piece construction and forms extensions of the front, back and end sides. The ice stripper extends over the frontal portion of the top openings and extends over the back portion of the top openings to prevent spillage. The ice rake is disposed between the front and back sides and includes a rotatable shaft, and rake fingers extending outward from the shaft for moving ice cubes out of the respective ice chambers and onto the ice stripper.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to an ice maker for arefrigerator. More particularly, the aspects of the disclosedembodiments relate to an automatic ice maker for use on a door of arefrigerator.

A refrigerator generally includes a freezer compartment and a fresh foodcompartment. The compartments are partitioned from each other to storevarious foods at different temperatures in appropriate states for arelatively long time. The freezer compartment is also used to make andstore ice.

It is now common practice in the art of refrigerators to provide anautomatic ice maker. In a “bottom freezer” type refrigerator where thefreezer compartment is arranged below or beneath a top mounted freshfood compartment, convenience necessitates that the automatic ice makerbe disposed in a thermally insulated ice compartment mounted or formedon the door for the top mounted fresh food compartment. Ice is deliveredthrough an opening on the door for the fresh food compartment. In a“side by side” type refrigerator, where the freezer compartment isarranged next to the fresh food compartment, the automatic ice maker canbe disposed on the door for either one of the freezer compartment or thefresh food compartment. Ice is delivered through an opening formed onthe door of the respective compartment.

Positioning the automatic ice maker on the door of a refrigeratorpresents a number of challenges. One of such challenges is waterspillage. When the door is opened or closed while water in the ice makeris not frozen, the unfrozen water can spill out of the ice mold body ofthe ice maker. This is because the frontal opening of each ice chamberis not completely covered by the ice stripper. Such water spilling isnot desirable. Additionally, the spilled water will likely fall into theice storage bin positioned below the ice maker, causing the ice cubes inthe ice storage bin to clump together.

It would be advantageous to provide an automatic ice maker which has awater spillage arrangement that not only prevents unfrozen water fromescaping the ice mold body so that the water can be frozen into icecubes, but also allows the ice cubes to be properly ejected from the icemold body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As described herein, the exemplary embodiments of the present inventionovercome one or more of the above or other disadvantages known in theart.

One aspect of the disclosed embodiments relates to an automatic icemaker for a refrigerator. The automatic ice maker for a refrigeratorincludes an ice mold body, an ice stripper and an ice rake. The ice moldbody has a front side, a back side, end sides, a top peripheral rim anda plurality of ice chambers for containing water therein for freezinginto ice cubes. Each ice chamber has a top opening having a frontalportion adjacent the front side and a back portion adjacent the backside. The ice stripper is sealingly disposed on the top peripheral edgeand has a unitary one-piece construction. The ice stripper formsextensions of the front side, back side and end sides and is configuredto extend over the frontal portion of the top opening of each icechamber and extend over the back portion of the top opening of each icechamber. The ice rake is disposed between the front side and the backside and includes a rotatable shaft, and a plurality of rake fingersextending outward from the shaft for moving ice cubes out of therespective ice chambers and onto the ice stripper.

Another aspect of the disclosed embodiments relates to a refrigeratorwhich includes a main body defining therein a food storage compartmentwith a frontal opening, a door rotatably attached to the main body forselectively closing the frontal opening of the food storage compartment,an ice compartment on the door, the ice compartment comprising a frontwall which faces the interior of the food storage compartment when thedoor is closed, and an automatic ice maker disposed in the icecompartment. The ice maker includes an ice mold body, an ice stripperand an ice rake. The ice mold body has a front side, a back side, endsides, a top peripheral rim and a plurality of ice chambers forcontaining water therein for freezing into ice cubes. Each ice chamberhas a top opening having a frontal portion adjacent the front side and aback portion adjacent the back side. The ice stripper is sealinglydisposed on the top peripheral rim and has a unitary one-piececonstruction. The ice stripper forms extensions of the front side, backside and end sides and is configured to extend over the frontal portionof the top opening of each ice chamber and extend over the back portionof the top opening of each ice chamber. The ice rake is disposed betweenthe front side and the back side and includes a rotatable shaft, and aplurality of rake fingers extending outward from the shaft for movingice cubes out of the respective ice chambers and onto the ice stripper.

Still another aspect of the disclosed embodiments relates to an icestripper for an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator. The automatic icemaker includes an ice mold body having a front side, a back side and endsides forming a peripheral top rim, a plurality of ice chambers andpartition walls disposed between adjacent ice chambers. The ice stripperincludes a front wall, a back wall extending over a back portion of theice chambers for substantially preventing water spillage from the backportion, end side walls connecting the front and back walls. The endside walls are configured to substantially prevent water spillage fromthe end sides of the ice mold body, where the front, back and end sidewalls form a peripheral interface rim configured to sealingly engage theperipheral top rim of the mold body for mounting the ice stripper to theice mold body. A plurality of raised stripper fingers depend from thefront wall and extend over respective ones of the partition walls. A webcover extends between adjacent stripper fingers configured to extendover a frontal portion of respective ones of the ice chambers forsubstantially preventing water spillage from frontal portion. The icestripper is formed in a unitary one-piece construction.

These and other aspects and advantages of the disclosed embodiments willbecome apparent from the following detailed description considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood,however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes ofillustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, forwhich reference should be made to the appended claims. Moreover, thedrawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwiseindicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate thestructures and procedures described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary “bottom freezer”refrigerator;

FIG. 2 is a simplified, perspective view of the refrigerator of FIG. 1with the access doors of the fresh food compartment being in an openposition and the drawer for the freezer compartment being removed forclarity;

FIG. 3 schematically shows an exemplary ice maker and a secondarytemperature control circuit used in the refrigerator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the ice maker of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view along line A-A in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is another perspective view of the ice maker of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are partial perspective views of the ice maker of FIG. 4;and

FIGS. 9A through 9F are cross sectional views, illustrating an exemplaryoperation of the ice maker of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an exemplary refrigerator 100 that includesfood storage compartments, such as a fresh food compartment 102 and afreezer compartment 104. The refrigerator 100 is coolable by aconventional vapor-compression temperature control circuit (not shown).Although the refrigerator 100 is shown as the “bottom freezer” type, theaspects of the disclosed embodiments are applicable to other types ofrefrigeration appliances, including but not limited to, side-by-siderefrigerators. The aspects of the disclosed embodiments are thereforenot intended to be limited to any particular type or configuration of arefrigerator.

The freezer compartment 104 and the fresh food compartment 102 arearranged in a bottom mount configuration where the freezer compartment104 is disposed or arranged beneath or below the fresh food compartment102. The fresh food compartment 102 is shown with French doors 134 and135. However, a single access door can be used instead of the Frenchdoors 134, 135. The freezer compartment 104 is closed by a drawer or anaccess door 132.

The fresh food compartment 102 and the freezer compartment 104 arecontained or defined within a main body 106 of the refrigerator 100. Themain body 106 includes a top wall 230 and two sidewalls 232. A mullion235, best shown in FIG. 2, connects the two sidewalls 232 to each otherand separates the fresh food compartment 102 from the freezercompartment 104. The main body 106 also has a bottom wall 234, whichconnects the two sidewalls 232 to each other at the bottom edgesthereof, and a back wall (not shown).

The access door 132 and the French doors 134, 135 close frontal accessopenings of the freezer compartment 104 and the fresh food compartment102, respectively.

Each French door 134, 135 is mounted to the main body 106 by a top hinge136 and a corresponding bottom hinge 137, thereby being rotatable aboutits outer vertical edge between an open position for accessing therespective part of the fresh food compartment 102, as shown in FIG. 2,and a closed position for closing the respective part of the fresh foodcompartment 102, as shown in FIG. 1.

Similarly, when an access door 132 is used for the freezer compartment104, it is rotatably mounted to the main body 106 in a known fashion.When a drawer is used for the freezer compartment 104, it is slidablyreceived in the freezer compartment 104 in a known fashion.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, an ice making assembly 200 is mounted on theinterior surface of the access door 134 of the fresh food compartment102. The ice making assembly 200 could alternatively be mounted on theaccess door 135. The ice making assembly 200 includes a substantiallythermally insulated ice compartment 204 mounted or formed on the accessdoor 134, and an exemplary automatic ice maker 202 in accordance withthe present invention. The ice maker 202 is disposed in the icecompartment 204. Water is provided to ice chambers of the ice maker 202through a water supply conduit (not shown) extending from the main body106 of the refrigerator 100 to the ice maker 202, and then is frozeninto ice cubes. It is noted that while the term “ice cube” is usedherein, the pieces of ice may have any suitable shape. For example, inthe embodiments described herein the ice cubes 960 (FIG. 9A-D) have asemicircular or crescent shape which when viewed from the side have acord 960C and an arc segment 960S. “Ends” of the ice cubes 960 aredefined herein as the points where the cord 960C meets the arc segment960S. The ice cubes are usually discharged from the ice maker 202 andstored in an ice storage bin 206 until needed by a user. The ice storagebin 206 is disposed in the ice compartment 204, below the ice maker 202.The ice cubes may be withdrawn by accessing the ice compartment 204through an access door 208 which faces the fresh food compartment 102when the access door 134 is closed. However, the ice cubes are typicallywithdrawn by using an ice dispenser (not shown) installed in the accessdoor 134 through an opening 203 (shown in FIG. 1) formed on the exteriorsurface of the French door 134. The opening 203 faces away from thefresh food compartment 102 when the access door 134 is closed and isformed at a height facilitating convenient access to the ice. These areknown in the art and therefore will not be discussed in detail here.

Because the ice compartment 204 is located in the fresh food compartment102, which normally has a temperature higher than the freezing point ofwater, warming of the interior of the ice compartment 204 occurs. In oneexample, to counter this warming, a secondary temperature controlcircuit 140 is used to circulate a working medium to and from the icemaker 202 and/or the ice compartment 204. As shown in FIG. 3, when theworking medium is a liquid, such as a food safe liquid in the nature of,for example, a mixture of propylene glycol and water, the secondarytemperature control circuit 140 includes a first heat exchanger 141disposed in the freezer compartment 104, a second heat exchanger 142thermally coupled to or formed as part of the ice mold body of the icemaker 202, a supply conduit 143 and a return conduit 144 between thefirst and second heat exchangers 141, 142. A working medium movingdevice, such as pump 145, is used for circulating the working medium inthe secondary temperature control circuit 140. The working medium iscooled when it passes through the first heat exchanger 141. The pump 145forces the cooled working medium to pass through the second heatexchanger 142 to keep the temperature of the ice maker 202 below thefreezing point of water. Such a secondary temperature control circuit isdiscussed in greater detail in commonly owned application Ser. No.11/958,900, filed Dec. 18, 2007, the entire content of which isincorporated herein by reference.

When the working medium is air, the secondary temperature controlcircuit includes a supply conduit (not shown) and a return conduit (notshown) between the freezer compartment 104 and the ice compartment 204.A working medium moving device such as fan (not shown) causes coolingair in the freezer compartment 104 to flow to the ice compartment 204via the supply conduit, and air in the ice compartment 204 to flow backto the freezer compartment 104 via the return path. This configurationis known in the art, and therefore will not be discussed further here.It should be understood that the ice making assembly 200 could, in otherexamples, be mounted on the access door or drawer 132 in the freezercompartment 104 in which case a secondary temperature control circuitmay not be needed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the ice maker 202 includes a motor 410 and an icemold body 411. The ice mold body 411 has a front side 411F, a back side411B, and two opposing end sides 411E1, 411E2. One of the end sides411E1 is attached to the motor 410, and the other end side 411E2 isdisposed remote from the motor 410. At least one of the end sides 411E1,411E2 may be configured to substantially rotatably support an ice rakeor ejector 422 (FIG. 5) within the ice mold body 411 as described below.

Referring also to FIG. 5, the ice mold body 411 also has a bottom wall412 with a curved inner surface 413 extending generally longitudinallyalong the length of the ice mold body 411, and a plurality of partialpartition walls 414 extending transversely across the ice mold body 411to define a plurality of ice chambers 415. As is known in the art, icecubes are formed in these ice chambers 415. Each partial partition wall414 preferably has a recessed upper edge portion (not shown) throughwhich water flows successively from one ice chamber to the next to fillall of the ice chambers 415. The partial partition walls 414 areconfigured to form a track or guide way for guiding ice cubes as the icecubes are ejected out of the ice maker 202.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each ice chamber 415 preferably has agenerally semi-circular or otherwise curve shaped top opening 420terminating at a top surface 411T of the ice mold body 411. In thisembodiment, each top opening 420 has a substantially semi-circularfrontal portion 420F adjacent the front side 411F and a substantiallysemi-circular back portion 420B adjacent the back side 411B.

The ice maker 202 also includes an ice stripper 421 having a unitaryone-piece construction, which includes a plurality of raised stripperfingers 421F, a front wall 421D, a back wall 421B, end side walls 421E1,421E2 and a water inlet element 416. In one example the ice stripper 421is molded of plastic by any suitable molding technique such as injectionmolding. In other examples the ice stripper can be constructed of anysuitable material in any suitable manner. The ice stripper 421 isconfigured to sealingly mate with the ice mold body 411 so as to form asubstantially continuous inner wall surface between the ice mold body411 and the ice stripper 421. For example, the end side walls 421E1,421E2 of the ice stripper 421 form extensions of the ice mold body 411end side walls 411E1, 411E2 for substantially preventing orsubstantially reducing water spillage (i.e., unfrozen water flowing outof the ice maker 202) from the sides of the ice maker 202 when the door134 (and/or 135) is opened or closed. In this example, the end sidewalls 421E1, 421E2 are substantially straight and in-line with the endside walls 411E1, 411E2. In other examples, the walls 421E1, 421E2 maybe angled or curved relative to the end side walls 411E1, 411E2. Theback wall 421B has an inner surface 421BS that extends generallylongitudinally along the length of the ice mold body 411 to form anextension of the curved inner surface 413 of the ice mold body forsubstantially preventing or substantially reducing water spillage fromthe back portions 420B when the door 134 (and/or 135) is opened orclosed. The inner surface 421BS is generally contoured to follow acurvature of the curved inner surface 413. In alternate embodiments theback wall may also includes a plurality of ribs that extend from theinner surface where each rib in the plurality of ribs is generallyaligned with, and substantially contacts, a corresponding one of thepartial partition walls of the ice mold body. The front wall 421Dgenerally extends adjacent to and along at least a portion of the front411F of the ice mold body 411.

The plurality of stripper fingers 421F extend from the front wall in agenerally inward direction towards the ice rake shaft 422S. Each of thestripper fingers 421F includes a first guide portion 550 and a secondguide portion 551. The first guide portion 550 includes a proximate enddepending from the front wall 421D and a distal end disposed remote fromthe front wall 421D. The first guide portion 550 extends at an angle θ(FIG. 9A) upward and inward from a top of the front wall 421D towardsthe ice rake shaft 422S. The angle θ may be any suitable angle such thatthe stripper fingers 421F (and covers 421W—described below) are raisedto allow for the rotation of rake fingers 422F, which each have apredetermined length L (FIG. 9A), within the ice maker 202, withoutinterference from the ice stripper 421. The second guide portion 551includes a proximate end and a distal end. The proximate end of thesecond guide portion 551 depends from the distal end of the first guideportion 550. The second guide portion 551 extends inwardly from thedistal end of the first guide portion 550 in a generally downwarddirection. The distal end (e.g. the tip 421T of the stripper finger421F) of the second guide portion is disposed adjacent the ice rakeshaft 422S so as to substantially prevent ice from getting stuck underthe stripper finger 421F as the ice is ejected from the ice maker 202.As can be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the first and second guide portions550, 551 form a substantially V-shaped finger with an apex 910 (FIG. 9A)disposed between the front wall 421D and the shaft 422S of the ice rake422. Each of the stripper fingers 421F includes a central portion 572,running a length of the stripper finger 421F, and edges 571 disposed oneither side of the central portion 572. The central portion 572 israised relative to the edges 572 so that a crown 570 is formed on eachof the stripper fingers 421F. The adjacent crowned stripper fingers 421Fform channels therebetween for ice cubes to travel along during ejectionfrom the ice maker 202.

The stripper fingers 421F are generally longitudinally spaced apart fromeach other so that each of the stripper fingers 421F is substantiallyaligned with, for example, corresponding ones of the partial partitionwalls 414 so as to form a channel for directing ice out of the ice maker202. The spacing of the stripper fingers 421F is such that the gapbetween adjacent fingers is wider than the rake elements but narrowerthan the width of the ice cubes so as to guide the cubes ejected fromthe mold without interfering with the operation of the rake. A web orcover 421W extends over the frontal portions 420F between each adjacentstripper fingers 421F for preventing or limiting spillage over frontwall 421D when the door 134 (and/or 135) is opened or closed, withoutinterfering with an operation of the ice rake 422. The stripper fingers421F project inwardly beyond cover 421W.

Referring to FIG. 6, the water inlet element 416 is integrally formed(e.g. unitary one-piece construction) on, for example, the back wall421B of the ice stripper 421. In this example, the water inlet element416 substantially forms a funnel for directing water from the watersupply conduit through an aperture 600 disposed at the bottom the waterinlet element. The aperture 600 opens into the interior of the ice moldbody 411 for directing water into the ice chambers 415.

The ice stripper 411 forms a partially opened hood for substantiallypreventing water from escaping or spilling from the ice maker 202 when,for example the door 134 (and/or 135) is opened and closed. As can beclearly seen in FIGS. 4, 5, 7 and 8, the ice stripper 421 sealinglyengages the ice mold body 411. The ice stripper 421 includes aninterface rim including a front rim portion 501 (adjacent the front wall421D), a back rim portion 502 (adjacent the back wall 421B) and side rimportions (not shown—adjacent the end side walls 421E1, 421E2). Theinterface rim of the ice stripper 421 is configured to substantiallycontact the top peripheral rim of the ice mold body 411 for forming asubstantially water tight seal between the ice mold body 411 and the icestripper 421. The top peripheral rim of the ice mold body 411 includes afront rim 510, back rim 511 and side rims (not shown) that areconfigured to interface with corresponding rim portions of the icestripper interface rim. A suitable grease, such as a silicone grease, ora gasket or other suitable sealing member or material, may also beprovided between the interfacing rims of the ice stripper 421 and icemold body 411. The ice stripper 421 may be held on the ice mold body 411in any suitable manner. In the exemplary embodiment the ice stripper 421includes resilient members 700 extending from, end side walls 421E1,421E2. The ice mold body 411 includes receptacles 710 configured toaccept the resilient members 700 such that the resilient members “snap”into the receptacles 710 for securing the ice stripper 421 to the icemold body 411. In other examples, the resilient members 700 and thereceptacles 710 may be disposed on any suitable sides of the icestripper 421 and ice mold body 411. Also in the exemplary embodiment,the ice stripper 421 includes tabs 730 extending therefrom. The tabs 730include apertures 730A configured to allow a screw 740 or other fastenerto pass through a respective tab 730. The ice mold body 411 may includecorresponding tabs having threaded apertures (not shown) for acceptingthe screw 740 of a respective tab 730 for securing the ice stripper 421to the ice mold body 411.

Referring also to FIGS. 9A-9F, the ice rake or ejector 422 has arotatable shaft 422S disposed preferably slightly above the ice chambers415 and at approximately midway between the frontal portions 420F andthe back portions 420B. A plurality of rake fingers 422F extend radiallyoutward from the shaft 422S and over the respective ice chambers 415. Inthis embodiment, each rake finger 422F has a predetermined length L. Thepredetermined length of each rake finger 422F is such that each tip 422Tis disposed adjacent the curved inner surface 413 of the ice mold body411 to allow the rake finger 422F to contact a respective ice cube 960substantially at an end of the ice cube 960 for pushing the ice cube 960out of the ice maker 202. During rotation of the ice rake 422, the rakefingers 422F extend into the gap formed between respective adjacentstripper fingers 421F, but do not come into contact with the respectivecover 421W when the shaft 422S rotates 360 degrees.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the exemplary embodiment, one end of the shaft422S is coupled to the motor 410 and the opposite end of the shaft 422Sis supported by, for example, end side 411E2. End side 411 E2 is asuitable bearing or support surface. As is known in the art, when themotor 410 is activated, the shaft 422S rotates, and the rake fingers422F move ice cubes 960 from the respective ice chambers 415 to the icestripper 421 during ice harvesting. In this embodiment, the motor 410 isan AC motor, and the shaft 422S rotates approximately 360 degrees in anice harvesting cycle. As shown in FIG. 5, the ice maker 202 preferablyhas at least one heating element 580 disposed along the bottom 412 ofthe ice mold body 411. The heating element 580 is used to heat the icemold body 411 when the ice harvesting cycle begins in order to slightlymelt the ice cubes 960 within the ice chambers 415 to allow the icecubes 960 to be more easily released from the ice chambers 415. Aheating element guard 585 is disposed adjacent a respective one of theheating elements 580. The heating element guard 585 is operative toinsulate each heating element 580 in order to substantially prevent heattransfer from the heating element 580 into, for example, the freezercompartment 104 (FIG. 2), fresh food compartment 102 (FIG. 2), or anyother suitable compartment of the refrigerator, depending on where theice mold body 411 is located.

In operation, water enters the ice mold body 411 and settles into theice chambers 415 where the water freezes into ice cubes 960. After theice cubes 960 are formed, a harvest cycle begins and the motor 410 (FIG.4) causes the ice rake 422 to rotate in the direction of arrow A formoving the ice cubes 960 out of the ice chambers 415 and into the icestripper 421. The raised orientation of the stripper fingers 421F (e.g.the second guide portion 551 forms an incline relative to the path ofthe ice cube 960 as the ice cube travels through the ice stripper 421)causes the ice cubes 960 to be ejected from the ice maker “up-hill”. Theice cubes 960 travel up the incline formed by the second guide portion551 of the stripper fingers 421F and the ice cubes 960 have a tendencyto slide off the rake fingers 42F and fall back into the ice mold body411. The curvature of the back wall 421B substantially follows the pathof the rake fingers 422F to substantially prevent the ice cubes 960 fromsliding off the rake fingers 422F as the ice cubes are moved up and overthe inclined second guide portion 551 of the stripper fingers 421F. Thecrown 570 (FIG. 5) on the stripper fingers may also center the ice cubes960 between respective stripper fingers 421F for stabilizing the icecubes relative to a respective rake finger 422F. Once over the apex 910of the stripper fingers 421F the ice cubes substantially slide down thefirst guide portion 550 of the stripper fingers 421F and are ejected outof the ice maker 202.

While the invention has been described in terms of various specificembodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the inventioncan be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of theclaims. For example, features of various embodiments/variations can becombined. Thus, while there have shown, described and pointed outfundamental novel features of the invention as applied to variousspecific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details of thedevices illustrated and in their operation, may be made by those skilledin the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. Forexample, it is expressly intended that all combinations of thoseelements and/or method steps which perform substantially the samefunction in substantially the same way to achieve the same results arewithin the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognizedthat structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/ordescribed in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of theinvention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described orsuggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. It isthe intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scopeof the claims appended hereto.

1. An automatic ice maker for a refrigerator, comprising: an ice moldbody having a front side, a back side, end sides, a top peripheral rimand a plurality of ice chambers for containing water therein forfreezing into ice cubes, each ice chamber having a top opening having afrontal portion adjacent the front side and a back portion adjacent theback side; an ice stripper sealingly disposed on the top peripheral rim,the ice stripper being of unitary one-piece construction and formingextensions of the front side, back side and end sides, the ice stripperbeing configured to extend over the frontal portion of the top openingof each ice chamber and extend over the back portion of the top openingof each ice chamber; and an ice rake disposed between the front side andthe back side, the ice rake comprising a rotatable shaft, and aplurality of rake fingers extending outward from the shaft for movingice cubes out of the respective ice chambers and onto the ice stripper.2. The automatic ice maker of claim 1, wherein the ice strippercomprises a plurality of stripper fingers and a cover extending betweenadjacent fingers, the stripper fingers extending inward further than thecover.
 3. The automatic ice maker of claim 2, wherein each ice chamberincludes a curved inner surface, each rake finger being disposed betweentwo respective adjacent stripper fingers and having a length so that atip of the rake finger is disposed adjacent the curved inner surface forcontacting an end of a respective ice cube for moving the respective icecube onto the stripper, the stripper fingers and cover being raised soas to not interfere with a rotation of the rake fingers.
 4. Theautomatic ice maker of claim 1, wherein the ice mold body includes acurved bottom wall and end side walls, the ice stripper including sidewalls and a back wall, the side walls being disposed above the end sidewalls to form an extension thereof and the back wall being disposedalong the back side of the ice mold body to form an extension of thecurved bottom wall, the back wall extending over the back portions ofthe plurality of ice chambers.
 5. The automatic ice maker of claim 1,wherein the ice stripper further includes a water inlet element having aunitary one-piece construction with the ice stripper, the water inletelement having an aperture that opens into an interior of the ice moldbody where the water inlet element substantially forms a funnel fordirecting water into the ice chambers.
 6. The automatic ice maker ofclaim 1, wherein the ice stripper includes a plurality of stripperfingers depending from a front of the ice stripper, each stripper fingerincludes first and second guide portions that form a substantiallyV-shaped finger with an apex disposed between the front side and therotatable shaft.
 7. The automatic ice maker of claim 6, wherein eachstripper finger includes a central portion, running a length of thestripper finger, and edges disposed on either side of the centralportion, the central portion being raised relative to the edges so thata crown is formed on each of the stripper fingers.
 8. The automatic icemaker of claim 7, wherein a tip of each stripper finger is disposedadjacent the rotatable shaft and being configured to prevent ice frompassing between the stripper finger and the rotatable shaft.
 9. Theautomatic ice maker of claim 1, wherein the ice stripper includes anintegral water inlet element configured to direct water into the icechambers.
 10. A refrigerator comprising: a main body defining therein afood storage compartment with a frontal opening; a door rotatablyattached to the main body for selectively closing the frontal opening ofthe food storage compartment; an ice compartment on the door, the icecompartment comprising a front wall which faces the interior of the foodstorage compartment when the door is closed; and an automatic ice makerdisposed in the ice compartment, the ice maker comprising: an ice moldbody having a front side, a back side, end sides, a top peripheral rimand a plurality of ice chambers for containing water therein forfreezing into ice cubes, each ice chamber having a top opening having afrontal portion adjacent the front side and a back portion adjacent theback side; an ice stripper sealingly disposed on the top peripheral rim,the ice stripper being of unitary one-piece construction and formingextensions of the front side, back side and end sides, the ice stripperbeing configured to extend over the frontal portion of the top openingof each ice chamber and extend over the back portion of the top openingof each ice chamber; and an ice rake disposed between the front side andthe back side, the ice rake comprising a rotatable shaft, and aplurality of rake fingers extending outward from the shaft for movingice cubes out of the respective ice chambers and onto the ice stripper.11. The refrigerator of claim 10, wherein the ice stripper comprises aplurality of stripper fingers and a cover extending between adjacentfingers, the stripper fingers extending inward further than the cover,wherein the frontal portion of the top opening of each ice chamber iscovered by the cover.
 12. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein each icechamber includes a curved inner surface, each rake finger being disposedbetween two respective adjacent stripper fingers and having a length sothat a tip of the rake finger is disposed adjacent the curved innersurface for contacting an end of a respective ice cube for moving therespective ice cube onto the stripper, the stripper fingers and coversbeing raised so as to not interfere with a rotation of the rake fingers.13. The refrigerator of claim 10, wherein the ice mold body includes acurved bottom wall and end side walls, the ice stripper including sidewalls and a back wall, the side walls being disposed above the end sidewalls to form an extension thereof and the back wall being disposedalong the back side of the ice mold body to form an extension of thecurved bottom wall, the back wall extending over the back portions ofthe plurality of ice chambers.
 14. The refrigerator of claim 10, whereinthe ice stripper further includes a water inlet element having a unitaryone-piece construction with the ice stripper, the water inlet elementhaving an aperture that opens into an interior of the ice mold bodywhere the water inlet element substantially forms a funnel for directingwater into the ice chambers.
 15. The refrigerator of claim 10, whereinthe ice stripper includes a plurality of stripper fingers depending froma front of the ice stripper, each stripper finger includes a crownedfirst and second guide portions that form a substantially V-shapedfinger with an apex disposed between the front side and the rotatableshaft.
 16. An ice stripper for an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator,the automatic ice maker including an ice mold body having a front side,a back side and end sides forming a peripheral top rim, a plurality ofice chambers and partial partition walls disposed between adjacent icechambers, the ice stripper comprising: a front wall; a back wallextending over a back portion of the ice chambers for substantiallypreventing water spillage from the back portion; end side wallsconnecting the front and back walls, the end side walls being configuredto substantially prevent water spillage from the end sides of the icemold body, where the front, back and end side walls form a peripheralinterface rim configured to engage the peripheral top rim for sealinglyconnecting the ice stripper to the ice mold body; a plurality of raisedstripper fingers depending from the front wall and extending overrespective ones of the partition walls; and a cover extending betweenadjacent stripper fingers, the cover being configured to extend over afrontal portion of the ice chambers for substantially preventing waterspillage from the frontal portions; wherein the ice stripper is formedin a unitary one-piece construction.
 17. The ice stripper of claim 16,wherein the stripper fingers extend inward further than the cover. 18.The ice stripper of claim 16, wherein the ice stripper further comprisesa water inlet element formed with a unitary one-piece construction onthe back wall, the water inlet element having an aperture that opensinto an interior of the ice mold body where the water inlet elementsubstantially forms a funnel for directing water into the ice chambers.19. The ice stripper of claim 16, wherein each stripper finger includesa first and second guide portions that form a substantially V-shapedfinger with an apex disposed inward of the front wall.